Unholy Pedestal

Lalu Prasad’s disrespect for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar unmasks his hollow legacy.

Bihar

A video clip has triggered outrage across Bihar. In it, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is seen lounging on a sofa as a supporter places a framed portrait of B.R. Ambedkar - India’s foremost Dalit icon - at his feet during the former chief minister’s birthday celebration. The image, appearing almost as an offering, stayed there while Lalu sat motionless.

The symbolism was unmistakable and the backlash swift. Within hours, The BJP and ruling Janata Dal (United) slammed him for insulting the architect of the Constitution. The State Commission for Scheduled Castes issued a notice to the RJD patriarch, but no apology has been forthcoming from the latter.

Instead, his son and heir, Tejashwi Yadav, dismissed the furore as a BJP fabrication. That defence, delivered with characteristic entitlement, speaks volumes not just about the family’s casual irreverence, but about the cynical decay of a political movement once built on the promise of social justice.

This is not the first time Lalu has shown contempt for the very ideals he claims to uphold. The incident may appear small, but is rich in symbolism. Ambedkar, born into untouchability, gave India its Constitution and generations of Dalits the courage to stand tall. To place his portrait at anyone’s feet (least of all a man who rode to power on Ambedkarite slogans) is grotesque.

And yet, grotesque fits Lalu’s brand of politics. Once hailed as the champion of the backward classes, he now presides over a decaying dynasty that cloaks nepotism in the language of empowerment. Rabri Devi, his wife, was plucked from obscurity to become chief minister. Tejashwi, the son, is projected as chief minister-in-waiting. One daughter is in the Rajya Sabha; another is fielded in the Lok Sabha. Lalu’s politics is not about public service but about family service. The RJD, in practice, resembles a princely estate than a modern political party.

The moral bankruptcy extends beyond family rule. Lalu’s much-vaunted ‘social justice’ has done little to improve Bihar’s fortunes. The state remains one of India’s poorest, with dismal health, education, and employment indicators. The Mandal-era rhetoric he mastered has long since fossilised into vote-bank arithmetic.

What makes the Ambedkar insult particularly galling is Lalu’s long history of invoking the Dalit leader’s name to sanctify his own rule. But Ambedkar stood for constitutional morality, meritocracy and intellectual rigour. Lalu’s career has instead been defined by cronyism, corruption and theatrical populism. He projects himself as a messiah of the oppressed but behaves like a monarch of the entitled.

His one-time comrades Nitish Kumar and the late George Fernandes eventually severed ties with him precisely because of this arrogance and his authoritarianism. The same arrogance is now on full display. The RJD could have apologised swiftly and sincerely. Instead, it chose to stonewall. Is it counting on Bihar’s electorate would overlook the insult or forget it altogether? That would be a grave miscalculation, especially with the Assembly polls looming.

The BJP, of course, is seizing the moment, eager to paint Lalu as a hypocrite and the RJD as anti-Dalit. But political opportunism doesn’t make the charge any less true. The RJP that once sought to unite the backwards and oppressed under a common banner now finds itself exposed: its leader indifferent, its heirs evasive and its ideology hollowed out.

Ambedkar once warned against hero-worship, particularly in politics. He said there was nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services but that there were limits to gratefulness. The RJD would do well to heed those words. Reverence cannot be inherited. It must be earned. And if lost, cannot be reclaimed with birthday parties and defensive press releases.

Lalu Prasad may have built his legend on the backs of the oppressed. But in the twilight of his political life, it is clear he no longer lifts them. He only stands on them.